CTBC Bank and Taipei 101 Souvenir Building Replicas

A very good friend, and you know who you are Sean, returned recently from a business trip to Taipei, Taiwan. As always when friends or family are traveling, I reminded him to keep an eye out for metal souvenir buildings. He retuned with not one, but two great building replicas from that city. One is a very detailed and well-made chrome metal souvenir of Taipei 101, which was designated the tallest building in the world in 2004 and remained until being surpassed with the opening of Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. The building's design contains visual symbolism including sections of bamboo, pagoda, and an open flower. The structure also needed to be strong and flexible to withstand both high winds and earthquakes. The second is a large, metal presentation piece replica of the CTBC Bank complex. Formerly known as China Securities Investment Corp., Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTBC Bank) was established in 1966 and renamed CTBC Bank Co., Ltd.  to align with our overseas expansion strategy.  The Chinatrust Commercial Bank headquarters building in Taipei, Taiwan is a complex, which includes a 30-story headquarters building, a 21-story commercial office building, a 10-story hotel, and a four-level retail center. The building façade system consists of extensive unitized curtain walls at the three towers, and multiple glass wall variations at the podium levels. The main tower has a series of vertical atriums carved into it creating “centers” or vertical courtyards composed of multistory, cable-supported glass that extends the entire height of the structure on two faces. The office towers feature a curtain wall that allows for maximum natural daylight through narrow floor plates, with floor-to-ceiling glass and automatic sensors. 

Mystery Asian Souvenir Building Box

Building Collector reader Steve sent me these photos of a recently acquired souvenir building. He wonders if anyone can identify the structure. There is Asian writing on the bottom. The Building is a very heavy metal box and depicts a 14-story building. It stands 4.5 inches and the unhinge top comes off. Steve writes, “Exterior has silver aluminum finish but is much too heavy to be made of aluminum. Base feels like lead. Looks like it might have been used to hold a cigarette pack and matches. The bottom has a single line of writing in what I think is Japanese. Have never seen it before and it is a great piece. No dents and remarkable that the unattached top did not get separated and lost.” If anyone has clues to its identity email me or write via the ‘comments’ link below.

Hung Hom Station Souvenir Building

The first time I saw this building replica of the Hung Home Station, it reminded me of the Colorado Federal Savings Bank. Both buildings have a distinctive wavy or W-shaped roof. The Hung Hom Station model measures 4" inches wide by 2" inches deep at the base and 1.25" inches tall. It sits on a base inscribed with the words "Hung Hom Station" in English on one side and in Chinese characters on the other. Hung Hom Station, formerly known as Kowloon Station, is a station on the East Rail Line and West Rail Line in Hong Kong. Built in 2004, It is located in Hung Hom, Kowloon. Hung Hom Station is one of the three Hong Kong ports-of-entry on the MTR network, along with Lo Wu Station and Lok Ma Chau Station. Hung Hom serves as the southern terminus of both East Rail Line and West Rail Line, as well as the terminus of cross-border. The similarly-styled replica of the Denver bank branch building was made by Banthrico. In Redwine's book, its Plate 562 and has a rarity rating D. In Oldham's 2001 Banthrico guide,its listed as rarity 'D.' Tokyo Tower replicas are often confused with the those of the Eiffel Tower. Do you know of other buildings which look alike and have souvenir buildings made?

Chinese War Monument Tower

A recent eBay listing called this a "Japanese War Memorial in Hakugyokuzan," but after some research, I discover that this memorial is actually in China commemorating a war between Russia and Japan. The very rare souvenir stands 6 1/2 inches Tall with a 5 1/2 inch base. The metal monument has a bronze finish with asian writing on it's base (If anyone can read the characters, please let me know what it says). The antique replica appears to be very well made with open columns at the base. The lucky auction winner got this for $165. Seeming to have many different names, the real "Monument to the Loyal Dead" or 'Patrotic Tower' or "Loyalty tower" stands atop a hill in Chinese city of Lushun, formerly named port arthur. Colonial authorities decided to build on Baiyu Peak a "loyalty Tower" in recognition of the officers and soldiers loyal to the emperor who died during the Russo-Japanese War. Construction of "Loyalty tower" began in 1909 and 20,000 workers labored two years to build tower. Standing 66.8 meters high, the tower has 273 interior spiral stairs. The top spire is said to either resemble a warhead or candle. Its a popular tourist destination.

Buildings Damaged by War

For Memorial Day, Scott D. researched and wrote about some souvenir buildings which still show how they were affected by war.

"I recently came across a Rheims Cathedral Bookend that shows the affects of the artily shelling that took place in 1914. I found it very interested as it matched pictures from WWI that showed the damage done to the famous cathedral. The towers were shot up and debris lying at the bottom. The once proud cathedral looked tattered and torn. On the back of the bookend it says Rheims 1918. The way the cathedral still looked 4 years later at the end of WWI. With this I thought, what other souvenir buildings show the affects of war on them. Then I started looking through my collection. One of the most famous buildings that show the effect of war and also the start of the nuclear age is the dome building in Hiroshima. There have been a couple different versions of this now peace monument. The Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall was constructed in 1915 as a base for promoting the sale of goods produced in Hiroshima Prefecture. The building designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel was highly regarded for its imposing, European-style design. Its name changed to Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall and then to Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. Intensification of the war led the government to discontinue commercial uses of the Industrial Promotion Hall in March 1944. Instead, it housed the branch office of the Chugoku Shikoku Public Works Office of the Internal Affairs Agency and the offices of the Hiroshima District Lumber and Japan Lumber Control Corporation. When the atomic bomb exploded, it ravaged the building instantly. Heat blazing from above consumed the entire building, killing everyone in it. Because the blast attacked the building from virtually straight overhead, some walls escaped total collapse. Along with the wire framework of the dome, these form the shape that has become a symbol. At some point it became known as the "A-bomb Dome." In 1966, Hiroshima City determined to preserve the A-bomb Dome indefinitely and solicited funds from within Japan and overseas. To date, the A-bomb Dome has undergone two preservation projects. As a historical witness that conveys the disaster of the first atomic bombing in history, and as a symbol of the vow to pursue the abolition of nuclear weapons and enduring peace, in December 1996 the A-bomb Dome was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List based on the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Heritage. There are at least 3 different version of the Dome - all of which are hard to come by. Another building that I came across was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. Kaiser William II Decided to name the church in honor of his grandfather Kaiser William I. The foundation stone was laid on March 22, 1891, which was William I's birthday. The competition for the design was won by Franz Schwechten who planned for a large church to be built in neo-romanesque style, including 8,989 square Feet of wall mosaic. The spire was 370 feet in stature and the nave seated over 2,000 people. The church was consecrated on September 1, 1895. By this time of the consecration the entrance hall in the lower section had not been completed. This was opened and consecrated on February 22, 1906. During the Second World War, on the night of November 23, 1943, the church was irreparably damaged in an air raid. The church was largely destroyed but part of the spire and much of the entrance hall survived. A new church was designed by Egon Eiermann and consists of four buildings grouped around the remaining ruins of the old church. The initial design included the demolition of the spire of the old church but following pressure from the public, it was decided to incorporate it into the new design. The four buildings comprise, on the west of the ruins, the new church with a foyer to its west, and to the east of the ruins, a tower with a chapel to its northeast. The plan of the church is octagonal while the plan of the tower is hexagonal. These components are sited on a plateau measuring 100 meters long and 40 meters wide. The new buildings are constructed of concrete, steel and glass. The walls of the church are made of a concrete honeycomb containing 21,292 stained glass inlays. The glass, designed by Gabriel Loire, was inspired by the colors of the glass in Chartres Cathedral. The predominant color is blue, with small areas of ruby red, emerald green and yellow. The church is 35 meters in diameter and 20.5 meters high with a capacity of over 1,000. Because of the distinctive appearance of the new buildings, it is sometimes nicknamed "Lippenstift und Puderdose” (the lipstick and the powder box) by Berliners. There are versions of this church as it was before the 1945 bombing and a new pewter version showing what the church looks like today. As I’ve noticed most of these builds have been left in ruin as souvenirs of the cost and destruction of war. So they serve more than just the souvenir of a visit to the location but also thoughts of peace." - Scott D.

Tallest Buildings in the World

Do architects fight like siblings? ‘I want to be tallest, no I want to,” they might bicker. Since the term ‘skyscraper’ was created, there has been a race to the top. When the Burj Khalifa skyscraper opened on Monday, it  now holds the title of the World’s tallest building overtaking Taipei 101. Third place will go to the Shanghai World Financial Center, then, the Petronas Towers and the Willis Tower (formally the Sears Tower) will be the 6th tallest skyscraper in the world. Interestingly, most of the recent tallest buildings have been both designed and constructed by just a few companies. The Burj Khalifa was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also designed the Willis Tower in Chicago and 1 World Trade Center, former known as Freedom Tower, which is the main building of the new World Trade Center under construction on the site of the destroyed WTC. The primary builder of the Burj Khalifa is South Korean Samsung Engineering & Construction, who also built the Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers. The ‘tallest structures in the world’ list varies somewhat with any’ tallest buildings in the world’ list. The former includes other man-made structures and towers such as the Canadian CN tower and T.V. towers. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), recently announced a change to its height criteria for judging who wins the tallest prize. Infocus Tech makes souvenir replicas of most of these skyscrapers. Other souvenir versions of the Burj Dubai and Petronas towers are also available. At over 800 meters (2684 feet) and more than 160 stories, the Burj Dubai is a supertall skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building resembles a bundled tube form - a rounded version similar to the Willis Tower’s multiple connected square segments. Its design is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for The Illinois, a mile high skyscraper designed for Chicago, but never built. The design of Burj Dubai is derived from patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. The design architect Adrian Smith has said the triple-lobed footprint of the building was inspired by the flower Hymenocallis. The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiralling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. There are 26 terraces in the Burj Khalifa. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Persian Gulf. Viewed from above or from the base, the form also evokes the onion domes of Islamic architecture.

Human Hair Mini Building

As Halloween approaches, our thoughts turn to scary and hairy things. Werewolves, Wolverine, Sasquatch, Cousin It, Wookies – you know the type. In the past, I’ve written about other people who patiently create miniature buildings from a variety of materials: Wooden cities, Sugar skylines, Chocolate carvings, Jell-O buildings and Sand sculptures. But now I’ve seen everything. A Beijing hairdresser wanted to create something unique to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Communist China's founding. So naturally, he built a replica of the buildings and monuments around Tiananmen Square made entirely of human hair. Huang Xin has completed the Monument to the People's Heroes and is putting the finishing touches to the Gate of Heavenly Peace or Tiananmen, complete with a miniature portrait of former Chairman Mao (the only portion not made of hair.) About 11 kg of hair and 500 yuan ($71) worth of hair dye and other supplies were used to build the Gate of Heavenly Peace replica, which is about a meter long. It took Huang days to draw a simple blueprint and five months to gather enough hair to create the landmark. Instead of throwing away customers' hair after a cut, Huang Xin sweeps it up, washes and dyes the clumps and converts them into a substitute for bricks, wood or any other material needed for his hairy artwork. "Some customers are supportive, some are not. Some just don't believe it's possible to make models of such huge architecture using such a delicate material as human hair," Huang told Reuters. Huang has also made replicas of the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, the Olympic torch and ancient Chinese artifacts. It generally takes months to scrape together enough hair for one large replica, which requires dozens of tubes of dye to change the dried hair to the desired color. Eventually, he would like to bring his job and his hobby together - creating images of his customers using their own hair, which he believes would last longer than photographs. "I am planning to do portraits of customers using their own hair. From a haircut I would get both short and long hair. So technically, I would be able to make flat works, that would, for example, resemble photographs," he said. Have you seen other miniature building hand made of unusual materials?

Gold Tokyo Tower

For the building collector who has everything, one can now buy a replica of the Tokyo Tower made of gold. The 24 karat gold detailed replica even includes a representation of the four story shopping and dining center called Foot Town located at the tower's base. The gold masterpiece stands about 26 inches high and weighs 11 pounds. The price is $510,000. Jeweler Ginza Tanaka Corp is selling (or hoping to sell) a miniature of Tokyo Tower made out of pure gold and was made to mark the 50th anniversary of Tokyo Tower. I wrote earlier about the Tokyo Tower and its sometimes confusion with the Eiffel Tower. Other replicas of the Tokyo Tower are a bit more modest pot metal versions. In the photos below, other Tokyo buildings it and one includes statue of the samurai warrior Kusunoki Masashige. Do you know of other gold or unique souvenir buildings?

Small & Rare Taj Mahals

Indian miniature artist Jaspal Singh Kalsi, above, displays his creation of 1.5 cm high (0.59 inch) wooden replica of the Taj Mahal, in Amritsar, India in 2007. The Taj Mahal was among the leading contenders to be the new Seven Wonders of the World.
Finishing touches to a silver replica of the Taj Mahal, above, are made in Hyderabad, India in 2007. It was created and displayed in the city to garner public vote for the building to enter the new Seven Wonders of the World competition.

Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore

The battle to be the tallest has gone on for years. The Chrysler Building reigned until the Empire State Building came along. Then it was Sears Tower in Chicago and Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These days, boom towns like Dubi are building the world’s tallest structures. The Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is currently the world's tallest man-made structure. Recently, I found a ceramic drinking vessel (can you really call it a ‘glass’?) in the shape of the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore. The building replica seems to have been used to serve a drink in the hotel’s Compass Rose Restaurant and Bar. Printed on the side is “World’s Tallest Hotel.” I wondered if it still held that distinction and high honor. The Westin Stamford was re-branded as “Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore” In January 2002. I had not seen this souvenir previously. More commonly found are drinking vessels in the shape of the Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta Ga. This is ceramic replica stands 8.5" tall. This souvenir also claims to be the “Worlds Tallest Hotel.” The Westin Stamford surpassed the Peachtree by 18 feet when it was built in 1986. (723’ compared to 741’) The tallest hotel in the world today may be the Burj Al Arab in Dubai which, at 321 meters (1,060 feet), resembles a billowing sail. The race continues as you can see from this website called: Official World's 100 Tallest High-rise Buildings (Hotel Use). Do you know of other “tallest” hotel souvenir buildings?

Beijing Olympics Begins Today: 8/8/08

The Beijing National Stadium, also affectionately dubbed the “bird's nest,” will host the opening and closing ceremonies tonight as well as the track and field stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics. I posted a while back about a finely-made metal model of the stadium. I also found other building replicas of the bird’s nest ranging from the interesting to the bizarre. Included are: a keychain with stadium fob, an ashtray, a plastic MP3 speaker and a lighter in the shape of the stadium. Do you know of other olympic building souvenirs?

Tokyo Tower

Often confused with the Eiffel Tower, the Tokyo Tower souvenir building is different and not as common. The main difference between the two replicas is the additional building at the base of the Tokyo Tower. During the postwar boom of the 1950s, Japan considered a monument to symbolize its ascendancy as an economic power. Modeled after the Eiffel Tower, it was completed in 1958 and, at 1,091 feet tall, is the tallest artificial structure in Japan. The main function is a radio and television broadcasting antenna support structure, but it also attracts over 2.5 million tourists annually. Observation decks give visitors a 360 degree view of the city, but unlike the Eiffel Tower, neither of the two decks of the Tokyo Tower is located at the top of the structure. At its base, a 4 story building known as Foot Town houses an aquarium, wax museum, shops and restaurants. Do you know of other similar yet different souvenir building replicas?

Beijing Olympic Replicas

A long line of people snaked along the building and one eager customer said he had waited all night in anticipation. Within an hour after the shop opened, the items were sold out. Was it the much-anticipated new iPhone people were clamoring to get their hands on? Perhaps tickets to a hot concert? Oh, no…they awaited the sale of a souvenir building! The large-sized golden metal stadium replicas of the "Bird's Nest," or National Stadium for upcoming summer 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, sold out in November of last year within two months of their release. With a limited issue of 20,000, the large gold models sold for $530 and prices of the other sizes began at $120. The stadium replicas came in 3 different sizes and where gold or tin-plated. The replicas included not just the structure, but entrances, stairways and surrounding landscape all mounted on a base. It seems there was a limited issue for all sizes of 99,999 total stadium replicas and they may be completely sold out because I could not find any available. On the official Beijing Olympic website, another souvenir building from the games is the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors used to pray for a good harvest, is still available for sale at $1149. Yikes, I know the value of the U.S. dollar has been falling, but is this replica made of solid gold for that price? In related news, some other amazing architecture being constructed for the games this summer includes the National Aquatics Center, dubbed the "Water Cube" which has an exterior which looks like bubbles.

Singapore’s Merlion

I’m not picky. I’ll add to my collection any way I can. I have this habit of enlisting friends, family and coworkers to help my collection grow. When I learned a colleague was traveling to Singapore, I used my typical line, “Did I ever tell you about my souvenir building collection?” I described what I look for and assure them if they should find something, “I pay cash-money!” She brought back a replica of something I never knew existed….a merlion statue. Designed by Fraser Brunner and built in 1964, the merlion measures 8.6 meters high and weighs 70 tons. With a lion head and fish body, the creature recalls the story of Prince Sang Nila Utama, who saw a lion while hunting on an island which became the sea port of Temasek, which eventually became Singapore.